At its worst (Jealousy Is A Powerful Emotion), he's overwrought and stodgy. More often, though, Draper is an unceasingly self-lacerating lyricist unafraid to deal with his past. [Oct 2017, p.103]

That song [Found What I've Benn Looking For], turbo-charged, grandstanding and whipped into shape by Grennan's gravel voice encapsulates his committed, lavishly layered approach. [Aug 2018, p.111]

What it lacks in earworms--with even the catchiest refrains served with a side of introspection--it makes up for it in its intoxicating portrait of desire. [Dec 2018, p.107]

While taken individually each song has its merits, as a whole, Spook The Herd is disappointing musically, with nothing rising out of the politely artful haze to truly engage. [Apr 2020, p.111]

Fake is rearranging his sound rather than reinventing it. [Jul 2020, p.109]

The end result is a heavyweight tour de force, and Polly Harvey's most fully-realised album to date. [May 2016, p.102]

Lurking beneath are the electronic pulses of post-rock and the occasional ripple of slip-slide jazz, ensuring that while Runner is approachable, it's always one step ahead. [Nov 2012, p.104]

There isn't a song here that isn't a low-key delight. [Jun 2016, p.111]

Hold Time cements his status as one of America's best roots songwriters. [Mar 2009, p.105]

What Mew have come up with here is a gently twinkling Mercury Rev-ish album of experimental percussive nonsense and occassional jazz-like noodling that somehow manage to hypnotise even while they irritate. [Oct 2009, p.114]

The result are a joy, exuding the same casual charm that has always characterised his best work. [Sep 2008]

Desperation proves that only modest mellowing has taken place in the interim. [Aug 2013, p.103]

By absorbing some of the best bits of The Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals and, at times, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci have made the perfect album for a breezy, summer afternoon.

There's a thin line between quirky powerpop and being They Might Be Giants. [Feb 2004, p.106]

Melody rarely comes easily, but this is a flamboyantly musical record that creates the perfect backdrop for Cave's theological, metaphysical musings.

Like its predecessor, In The Mode is a sprawling tour-de-force, and its 80 minutes contain much that is breathtaking alongside the pleasant if perfunctory. [Nov 2000, p. 112]

These songs snap at the outer edges of country, blues and folk, their emotional turmoil leavened by moments of bone-dry humour. [Nov 2000, p.107]

It's 20-minute closer Unrelenting Unconditional, however, which steals the show with its spectacular reimagining of Miles Davis's epic early '70s experiments in transcendental jazz-funk. [Apr 2015, p.108]

While generational ennui smoulders in the lyrics, their main concern remains heartbreak and its vicissitudes. [Dec 2017, p.106]

This is music that's lived life and doesn't stay in the same spot for long. It's a revelation. [Feb 2019, p.109]

A live document of his wildly acclaimed 2008 tour, Glitter And Doom further amplifies that uniqueness, backed up by an entire second disc of surreal storytelling. [Jan 2010, p. 126]

The mood of their music often feels a little stuck, though. [Oct 2012, p.100]

This is an almanac for the chronically inert, best when bottling the sparks that fly as misery meets fine company. [Dec 2017, p.111]

While preachiness rarely flatters battle-trained MCs, roller-coaster wordplay here makes the 34-year-old's sermons fun to untangle, even on harrowing subjects. [Oct 2019, p.107]

It's Prince, it's Eno, it's PiL, it's The Coasters and all at once. At times, that jars. At others... it's as exhilarating as a kiss. [Jul 2004, p.124]

Inevitably there are moments that would benefit from smoothing out, but part of the appeal is getting to ample Giannascoli's talent when it's still raw. [Dec 2014, p.110]

All 10 songs yield more delights with every hearing. [May 2003, p.112]

Not so much a wholesale reinvention as an impressive readjustment. [Feb 2018, p.112]